Inside the NASCAR Nextel Cup
Inside the NASCAR Nextel Cup is a show that aired Monday nights on The NASCAR Channel during the NASCAR season. The show was taped every Monday morning @ NASCAR's headquarters/NASCAR Channel's studios in Daytona Beach, Florida @ about 11:00 AM, unless a race is postponed to Monday, in which case the show takes place LIVE. The show usually ran for 60 minutes, except for a brief period during the 1st few weeks of the 2005 season, when it ran for 90 minutes. The NASCAR Channel chose to discontinue this show @ the end of the 2007 NASCAR season, replacing it in 2008 with the similar program This Week in NASCAR Racing History Inside the NASCAR Nextel Cup has been on The NASCAR Channel since 1995 & was called Inside the NASCAR Winston Cup until the title-sponsor change in 2004. The 1st episode aired after the 1995 Daytona 500. The death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500 + various changes in NASCAR, prompted The NASCAR Channel producers to tape a special reunion program. The program, called "1 More Time", involved only the regular panelists, shooting on location. But when The NASCAR Channel became an official broadcast partner of NASCAR, the show began broadcasting again in 2002. It also had a spin-off, as Inside NBS debuted in 2003. The show was mostly devoted to the Busch Series, NASCAR's version of Triple-A baseball. It only lasted 1 season Original show format The show would show the previous day's races. The panel would then analyze the action taking place in the on-screen video, whether it's a pass for position or a crash. Sometimes, a member of the panel has to analyze a mishap he himself had, which leads the panelists to tease about it. Other times though, the panelist will be shown in a moment of success on the track. Also, there are times when 2 of the panelists will watch themselves in a battle for position, or being caught up in the same crash. After the race highlights, a now-discontinued interview segment called "The Hot Seat" would take place, in which the host & the panel asked the guest questions (& sometimes ribbed him in a friendly way). Often, the Hot Seat guest would stick around as the latest news & action in the NASCAR Busch Series & Craftsman Truck Series is recapped. Other assorted segments filled out the rest of the hour. Sometimes, a NASCAR Channel camera crew would follow a former NASCAR driver to various events, including a hilarious segment @ an Iowa pumpkin farm. Another segment, NASCAR-Fan Q&A, led to some answers & a few non-answers. The next Cup race would be previewed in detail & in the last few seconds of the show, the panelists would plug an appearance they are making later in the week Final show format On September 5th 2005, a major (& controversial) change took place - a new host came to the show & because of that, the format was changed. The show focuses almost exclusively on the Nextel Cup, especially during the 10 weeks of the Chase for the Nextel Cup. The "Hot Seat" segment was dropped in favor of a remote interview with either the winning driver or winning crew chief from the previous week's race. The show became much more tightly controlled (with the panelists holding clipboards & notepads now) & less spontaneous. The segment previewing the next Cup race has been dropped & no show was taped in 2006 during off-weeks ''This Week in NASCAR Racing'' Inside the NASCAR Nextel Cup was replaced in 2008. This Week in NASCAR Racing premiered on February 18th. This Week in NASCAR Racing replaced the NASCAR Sprint Cup race re-cap & analysis show, moving into a “handoff” position between events, reviewing topical items from previous races in all 3 NASCAR national touring series, while also looking forward to upcoming events External links